The Return
by Depphead
Summary: Ok, well I'm terrible with story titles. A familiar face comes back into everyone's life and..bad stuff follows. Please RR!
1. It's always SOMETHING

**The Return (**yes, cheesy name...I'm not good with these.)

**Summary**:A familiar face returns...chaos insues. -insert spooky music here-

**Disclaimer:** Do I really need one? Is anyone really _that_ uptight that if I don't say, "Sadly, I don't own Charlie's hot arse or anything related to Lost" that they would sue a 15-year-old author? Puh-leaze. :-P Anywhoo, on with ze story!

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It had been two weeks since Claire's miraculous birth-giving, and the Lostaways had decided to throw a small party for her- to the best of their ability. It was set in the perfect shady spot on the beach, surrounded by trees but with an ocean view. Michael and Jin took a break from their raft-building, and used some scraps to build a table big enough for many people to sit at. Sun and Kate had decorated the small clearing with colorful flowers and many fruits and things for people to snack on. Charlie had even made her a little present, a drawing he'd made of her while she slept, framed in flowers. 

He also had another project he'd been working on; a personal raft that doubled as a makeshift surfboard. Charlie now laid shirtless on it, wearing some little girl's neon pink star-shaped sunglasses, floating lazily in the sun; about 15 meters from the shoreline with a contentedgrin.He'd even fashioned a little anchor to it so he didn't float out too far.Suddenly, something bounced rather hard off his stomach, making him suddenly jolt out of his happy littledaze and go flying face-first into the water. He resurfaced soon and saw a plastic bottle of suntan lotion floating nearby his raft.

He looked even farther to see Claire, standing in the shallows and laughing so hard she was turning red. "You're getting a little burnt," she called. Charlie looked down at his bare, slightly neon-pinkish chest through the crystal-clear water. He took the bottle and rubbed some lotion on in a silly manner. Claire giggled for a second; then her eyes widened as she pointed out behind Charlie. "Your raft!" she cried. Charlie whipped around to see his precious surfboard/raft slowly drifting out to sea. He started to run after it, but the water kept him from going very fast. He looked like an astronaut in low gravity, pushing his legs as hard as they would go, but getting next to nowhere.

"Charlie- come eat something!" Claire yelled playfully, motioning toward him to come up with her.

"In a moment…" he called back, finally catching up to the board and trying to paddle back to shore. He managed to stand up on it, and flexed his muscles in an exaggerated fashion, making Claire and a few others now joining her laugh. Suddenly, he lost his footing and slipped into the water below. After a few seconds, he didn't come up, and the smiles began to fade from everyone's faces.

"Charlie…" Claire whispered to herself worriedly, expecting him to pop up much closer to shore; having swam closer to surprise her. Nothing happened. She looked back to see the others getting concerned as well. Jack and Kate hopped up from the makeshift picnic table, and slowly began to walk down to the shore. "Jack, it's been over 30 seconds!" Claire cried. Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "Give it a minute…" he said, gripping his other hand. Suddenly, Charlie popped up, his arms waving wildly, gasping for breath.

"HELP-" he gasped, "CAN'T-" and sank back under.

"CHARLIE!" Claire screamed at the top of her lungs. "He can't swim! Jack, help him!" Jack was already pushing his way through the water to where it was deep enough to swim. Charlie reappeared. "SOMETHING- MY FOOT!" he screamed, and was pulled back under again. Jack was by this time furiously swimming to Charlie's aid. He dived underneath about the spot where Charlie went under. Kate and Claire held each other on the shore. "He's going to be ok…" Kate whispered to Claire. "Don't worry." Claire tearfully nodded.

About 7 feet under the water, Jack frantically tried to adjust his eyes to see Charlie. The salt content in the water made his eyes sting like hell, but there was no other way. He saw Charlie's head finally; he was lifeless. Jack grabbed one of Charlie's arms and tugged; his Charlie appeared to be attached to something. Suddenly, Charlie's eyes opened, and he began to struggle, motioning to his foot. Jack looked down and saw something big and dark coiled tightly around Charlie's entire foot and ankle. Something else, farther below that started to glow and make mechanical whirring noises, and it started to slowly reel him in. Charlie was getting weak, Jack could see it in his eyes. He fell limp again; and Jack began to furiously try and remove the bonds from Charlie's foot; they wouldn't budge.

Jack reappeared about 45 seconds later, gasping for breath himself. "Where's Charlie!" Claire screamed. "He's under there! Some kind of- machine-" Jack was suddenly pulled under. "NO!" Kate cried, releasing Claire and running into the water herself. Jack popped up again, and began to swim towards the shore as fast as he could. Kate grabbed him and she supported him as they both exhaustedly struggled back to shore. They both collapsed, as Jack tried to regain his breath. "What did you see?" Kate asked, looking back out into the still waters.

Jack had a rather distant look on his face. "It was some kind of…machine or something…it was…pulling him in."

Suddenly, Claire, who'd been standing behind them, in a complete daze, fainted.

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**A/N: If there's any gramatical errors, (i.e. strange spacing or lack thereof) I apologize. Something's kooky with my system, and it inserts those even after I've spell-checked it and everything. Peace out.**


	2. Aftermath

"What do you think that was?" Kate asked Jack, handing him a cup of water. It was dark now, and they were sitting around a bonfire inside the caves; what was supposed to have been the castaways' happy day ruined. He looked at her.

"I really don't know…I could barely see as it was. I just know whatever it is, it has him now. I just hope he's alive…I really do." he sighed and took a sip. "How's Claire holding up?" Jack asked Kate. "She's fine…mostly. Still a little shaken and sad, but she's been ok." They glanced over at Claire, who sat on the other side of the fire with Charlie Jr., rocking him to sleep. Her eyes were deep and expressionless as she gazed longingly into the smoldering blaze in front of her. She stroked her baby's head and kissed him gently as he finally closed his eyes and was launched into slumber; safe and warm in his mummy's arms. Jack sighed and looked back at Kate.

"We'll find him." Kate sat herself beside Jack with her own bottle of water. She took a sip and sighed. "Mind if I join you?" a new voice said. They both looked up to see Claire, her hands folded in front of her. Jack gestured to the empty spot next to him and nodded; Claire sat down. Without ever breaking her gaze from the fire again, she started to whisper, "I know he's ok." Jack looked at her quizzically. She smiled. "Charlie's a fighter. He might be a skinny little thing, but I'm sure he could hold his own." Jack grinned. "Probably so. Hey, where's Ch-" he stopped himself before he uttered the word "Charlie."

"Uhh…Peanut?" he said, quickly recovering.

Claire wistfully blew air from her mouth. "That kindly woman Rose is watching him. And it's ok…you can say 'Charlie.' It hurts that he's gone, but that doesn't mean he never existed. And not even saying the word doesn't make it better." She finally looked up and stared Jack in the eyes. He nodded solemnly. Kate finally found her voice again. "You haven't touched any food all night, sweetheart." She said, holding a mango out to Claire, who held her hands up in protest. "I fed Junior already." Kate shook her head. "I mean you, Claire. Charlie wouldn't want you to starve yourself. And besides- you know Jack is gonna get on your case about it," she said with a playful punch to the doctor's arm. He smiled and nodded as Kate offered the mango again. This time Claire grabbed it and took a big, juicy bite. Kate smiled. "See?" Claire grinned and opened her mouth, showing the half-chewed food. "Schee?" she mumbled, trying not to spray the mush onto her friends, making them both chuckle a little. She closed her mouth and swallowed as her baby's cry erupted from a nearby part of the cave. Claire sighed in exasperation and got up, still munching on her mango.

"Thanks…" Jack said, putting his arm around his knees. Kate looked at him strangely.

"For what?"

"For making Claire feel better. This is a dark time for her."

Kate scoffed. "This out of how many? I feel so bad for her. She's what- 23, and already been through a plane crash, two false labors, a kidnapping, memory loss, giving birth in the middle of the jungle with no anesthetic or medicines, and now her boyfriend is missing."

"We're going to get him back," Jack said darkly. "At all costs."


	3. The truth is revealed

**_A/N:_** Sorry if the chapters seem a little short...they seemed much longer on the word processor. Carry on.

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Charlie's head stirred and ached like all hell. He struggled to open his eyes, which still stung a little from the salt in them. His head and ears throbbed as if 815 drummers were pounding on him. "Help…" he croaked, barely able to move his throbbing jaw to pronounce the word. He attempted to move, but his arms were secured to his chest in a straightjacket. He struggled against it, but the damn thing was tied so tight, it almost cut his circulation off. He managed to stand up and wobbled over to the only door in the room. "SOMEBODY HELP!" he shouted, pressing his ear up to the cold steel door. Silence. He screamed and listened again. He soon heard footsteps and backed away from the door. He heard the door unlock, and it opened. Charlie's jaw dropped and he fell to the ground when he saw who was now standing in the open doorway, a sinister grin on their face.

Ethan Rom.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Charlie cried. "You…you're dead."

Ethan smirked. "Charlie, my dear boy…if I was dead, could I do this?" He brought his hand out from behind his back and knocked Charlie halfway across the small room. Charlie looked up, blood pouring from the left corner of his mouth. "H-how?" he rasped, breathing heavily and attempting to sit up. He turned over upright. Ethan took a few steps forward. "My name's not Ethan," he said. "It's Alex." Charlie stared at him blankly.

"Ethan was my twin brother. When we went on an expedition with our mother when we were 17. Then our ship crashed on this hellhole. She started to go insane after about 3 years, claiming everyone had caught some kind of 'sickness.' She then savagely killed as many of her team just to save us from getting the disease, which may or may not even exist. The rest escaped to God knows where. Then somehow through her twisted delusions, she claimed I had contracted the mystery disease. She tried to kill me as well, but after leaving me for dead out in the jungle, my brother found me and we ran as far away as possible from that crazy bitch. As it turns out, she's a piss-poor shot and my wounds quickly healed; I was a free man."

"Well maybe insanity runs in the family," Charlie snapped. "Who really kidnapped Claire then?"

"I did, idiot," Alex said. "My brother was the goody-two-shoes out there collecting fruit and helping you simpletons search for the girl and me. It had been about 8 years since we'd left our mother. Obviously she didn't care enough and bother to look for us. The few of Danielle's remaining crew had found a secret underground base that ran from the middle of the island to about quarter of a mile away from it underwater. I didn't bother to tell Ethan. For years after that, my new team and I lived in and out of the base in which you are now being held. My brother was overjoyed when your plane crashed here. Finally, there was someone else to talk to besides me." Ethan walked in circles as he talked. Charlie stared at him in utteropen-mouthed disbelief.

"He found out I'd kidnapped your little girlfriend and was infuriated. It was I, who took you and Claire, and whipped that hero doctor's ass. The girl broke free one night and escaped from me. Lucky for her. My brother was the one who got caught up in the shoot-out. He was just making sure she was ok that night. You killed the wrong man, Charlie," he finished with an evil grin. Charlie gasped and looked down, absorbing everything Alex had just said. Suddenly, he was grabbed by the hair and pulled to his feet. Alex put his other hand on Charlie's throat and slammed him to the wall. Charlie's feet kicked and twitched as his air was nearly cut off.

"L-let me go..." Charlie croaked. "You..bastard..."

"She whined to me every night how you were gonna 'kick my ass'- you were going to come back and find us,"Alex continued, ignoringCharlie's weak protests. He continued to firmly hold him at least 7 inches off the ground by his throat. "The thought of you was what kept her determined, and because of _you_, she escaped." He licked his lips devilishly, staring straight into Charlie's dinner-plate frightened eyes. Charlie gagged and struggled to breathe still."And now that I have you…let's just say the hell I send you to will seem like heaven compared to your time here." He threw Charlie down and stormed out of the room, slamming the door. Charlie lay in the corner in a twisted slump, gasping and choking for breath.


End file.
